Orange County | IN BRIEF / COUNTYWIDE

Cities Asking Court to Freeze Airport Plans

A coalition of cities has asked a state appellate court in San Diego to stop Orange County from planning an El Toro airport until the court rules on the validity of an antiairport initiative voters approved last year.

Measure F, which passed with 67% of the vote, requires a countywide vote on the airport after supervisors adopt an environmental review. A Los Angeles County judge in December declared the measure unconstitutional and froze its enforcement; appellate judges in San Diego will consider an appeal of that ruling in December.

Last week, supervisors approved the environmental review for an airport at the former Marine base handling 28.8 million passengers a year by 2020.

In August, the same appellate court voided a lower court ruling against another antiairport initiative proposed for the March ballot. The court allowed petitions to be gathered and submitted to the Orange County registrar of voters, who last week certified the measure for the ballot.